One Hot Minute, was one of the several local bands that performed on Saturday at the annual Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Company event. Live music, local food trucks such as Dusty Buns Bistro and special beer releases were a part of the all ages event.
More than 3,000 people ventured downtown to attend Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Company’s FresYes Fest on Saturday; a celebration full of live entertainment, local foods and, of course, craft beers.
The second annual FresYes Fest offered beer fans and connoisseurs an opportunity to get their hands on craft beers currently not in season. The daylong event spanned from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m., and for the first time ever, offered all beers in the Tioga-Sequoia selection at the same time.
Michael Cruz, the company president, said FresYes Fest is an event that highlights the “cool things” about Fresno, from specialty foods and beers to musicians.
“It’s exciting to see people not care what part of Fresno they are in and still come out looking to have a good time. It’s not like we’re just putting on regular music,” said Cruz. “Everything here represents Fresno.”
Tioga is a company that specializes in making unique beers. It had more than 20 craft beers on tap to offer attendees. From familiar beers such as the 99 Golden Ale to the more acquired tastes of the Midnight Lightning Imperial Stout, there were flavors to cater to every degree of beer drinkers.
“There’s a demographic year-round where it used to be a thing where, dark beverages only came around one time a year,” said Zachary Avila, a volunteer. “Now the craft beer industry has built so much, that it has become a year-round basis. There’s craft beer drinkers that drink your stouts, drink your porters on a consistent basis and when you can mix up that same basis … you have a lot of intrigue and it brings a lot of people out.”
With a plethora of beverages to keep the crowd cool during the unseasonably hot night, New Rock 104.1 and local bands kept its energy high.
An entertaining and eclectic selection of performers and musicians took the stage in the brewery’s lot, playing well into the night as people danced and mingled. Some of the bands featured were 40 Watt Hype, Mofo Party Band, OneHotMinute and Will Bollman.
“Starting last year, we wanted to do more music, feature local bands that have a following here in Fresno that have been playing for a while,” said Cruz.
Going hand in hand with the many flavors of the brewery were the tasteful creations of some of Fresno’s most popular food trucks.
Complementing the craft beers were dishes served up by vendors such as Dusty Buns, Gastro Grill and Jay’s Specialty Ice Cream trucks, which infused some of the beers into their items. Dusty Buns used Tioga’s new Mt. Whitney XPA and classic General Sherman IPA, while Jay’s selected the Rush Hour Breakfast Stout and Sugar Pine Porter to complement its ice cream.